Civil Society

DGMT: Dynamic evolution, but we could still be smarter

By David Orton, Chairperson of DGMT’s Board This year marks ten years since DGMT shifted from being a purely grant-making foundation to one aimed at making a systemic difference within certain chosen focus areas. What began as an evolutionary change rapidly changed pace with the arrival of new genes in the form of our new […]

Clever hacks, sound advice and nifty tools to excite NGOs in 2016

There is some disagreement about what the word “hack” refers to outside of programming contexts. We see it as a way of doing something that may not provide the most straightforward or expected solution, and yet it presents a clever way to satisfactorily solve a meaningful problem. Here are a few good examples that can […]

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A quick note to let you know about some recent online discoveries we’ve found helpful and inspiring: The Community Tool Box is a public service of the University of Kansas and is developed and managed by the KU Work Group for Community Health and Development together with national and international partners. It is a free, online resource for […]

Your best advice: How to start and drive a small, informal social initiative

Dear readers of the DGMT website You might have noticed we have a new information product called Create Change: Experience. Tools. Ideas. Through the Create Change resources we aim to equip individuals, communities and organisations with information and tools that will enable them to bring about the next big changes in South Africa. Have a look at […]

Introducing DGMT Create Change: Ideas. Tools. Experience.

We would like to commemorate World Literacy Day today by introducing our “Create Change” resources and publications. Through these documents we aim to equip individuals, communities and organisations with information and tools that will enable them to bring about the next big changes in South Africa. Developed collaboratively with our implementing partners, the first issue […]

Reflections on Education: DGMT trustee and staff “study tour” 2015

This week, DGMT’s trustees and staff team will spend four days on site visits. This annual event on our calendar functions as a sort of “study tour” – a chance to dig into the issues around one of DGMT’s focus areas. We visit partners to see their work in action, and meet with a number of […]

DGMT launches Facebook page

Grant-making foundations across the globe are increasingly using communications strategies that encourage critical thinking, discussion and knowledge-sharing to help shape policy change for even greater impact. As noted in the report ‘How Foundations Use Communications to Advance their Public Policy Work’, they are finding ways to leverage two of their greatest assets – knowledge and connections, rather than just relying on […]

Thinking scale – some tips to think about

Many of the organisations that we work with ultimately aim to scale – but very few have a clear sense of how to do it. While at a detailed level there are lots of ways to think about and plan for scale, here are a few tips we think can help: Start by shifting your […]

Communicating effectively about your organisation’s work and achievements: resources and advice

As a funder, we are at the receiving end of organisations’ efforts to communicate their work and achievements. We review many grant applications, sit through hours of presentations and carefully study reporting and learning documents. From this experience, we thought it might be helpful to share some of the common mistakes that we see, and […]

Setting up a computer laboratory on a shoestring budget

Digital technologies provide new opportunities for learning, and experience using a computer is a pre-requisite for most jobs in today’s economy. However, in low-income and rural communities, the cost of setting up a computer laboratory is often insurmountable. This blog explains how Johannesburg-based non-profit Streetlight Schools set up a computer lab for less than R1 000 per […]